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ANNUAL EEPOHT 

OF THE 

LADIES' ASSOCIATION FOR SOLDIERS' RELIEF OF PHILADELPHIA. 

Julv Q8, 1863. 



July 28, 1862. A number of ladies met together at No. 135 South 
Fifth Street, Philadelphia, and formed themselves into a Ladies' Associa- 
tion for Soldiers' Relief, the principal objects contemplated being, 

1. That the members, with the sole exception of an Honorary Secretary, 
shall consist of ladies only. 

2. That committees of members shall, for the present, visit the different 
wards of the U. S. A. General Hospital, West Philadelphia, for the pur- 
pose of ameliorating the condition of the sick and wounded soldiers, and 

8. To make visits for the above purpose to the sick and wounded sol- 
diers of the Army of the Potomac in the field, as often as occasion may 
render the same advisable. 

4. That the Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief, will receive for dis- 
tribution fr(5m time to time, money and such sanitary stores as may be do- 
nated by their friends and by the public, for the said purpose. 

5. That the Ladies' Association and its officers may be officially recoo-- 
nized by the military and medical authorities of the United States, and by 
the State of Pennsylvania, as well as by the public generally. 

6. That the time and services, of whatsoever kind, of the officers and 
members of the Association, shall be wholly voluntary and entirely gratui- 
tous, without any pay, or pecuniary recompense, or emolument of any kind, 
other than the actual necessary travelling expenses incurred by them. 

7. That every member shall subscribe fifty cents per month, for the in- 
cidental advertising expenses of the Association, in addition to an entrance 
fee of $1 on her being elected a member. 

By-Laws were also duly adopted. 

July 30, 1862. A letter of recognition of the Association was received 
from Doctor I. I. Hayes, Surgeon-in-charge of U. S. A. General Hospital, 
West Philadelphia ; and committees of ladies were at once organized, who 
visited daily, during a period of many months, the various wards of this 
extensive and well-managed hospital. 

Large quantities of delicacies, &c., were distributed among the three 
thousand sick and wounded soldiers in the hospital personally by the hands 
of the several committees, facilities being granted to them by Doctor Hayes 
and by all the ward surgeons, and the exertions of the ladies having been 
appreciated by the brave sick and wounded patriots. 

During the fruit season, peaches, &c., were often distributed at the 
hospital by the President and members of the Association. 



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4 

Acknowledgments frequently appeared in the public newspapers of large 
quantities of sanitary stores, donated by the public to the Ladies' Associa- 
tion, for distribution. 

Occasionally, it would happen that soldiers, either on furlough or dis- 
charged, would be assisted by the Association with money, or with tickets 
on the railroads, to their homes in distant States. Sometimes, the Asso- 
ciation would detail a nurse, hired by them, to accompany a sick or wounded 
soldier, who was otherwise too feeble, or crippled, to travel by himself, all 
the way home to his family in the interior of the State. 

The Association has constantly been in receipt of letters, such as the 
following, expressive of gratitude to the members, for attentions shown to 
the patriotic men who have fought and bled for our country. 

Easton, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1862. 

Mrs. Mary A. Brady. 

Madam : With unbounded gratitude I communicate to you my apprecia- 
tion of your endless benevolence and extreme kindness shown towards us, 
while we were so badly afflicted in the West Philadelphia Hospital. We 
shall none of us ever forget the remembrance of the ladies, and we 
would feel obliged to you, if you will please forward your photograph. 
Having arrived at my natural quiet in a peaceful home, I hope to recover 
my health, if it please a merciful Providence. My mother sends her re- 
gards and blessings to you. 

I am, Madam, yours sincerely, 

Jonathan J. Carey, 

^ Late Corporal Company C, 5tli Regiment, U. S. Artillery. 

Headquarters, Camp near Fairfax Court House, Va., 
January 15, 1863. 

Mrs. Mary A. Brady. 

Madam : For the articles you so kindly presented to the men of this 
Company, I am desired on their behalf to thank you. The merest trifle, 
if it comes from home, is valued by them greatly, while they are absent on 
duty. These goods are in themselves quite acceptable. 

Your kind presents will be an additional incentive to our exertions for 
our country, and will tend to strengthen our arms in the hour of danger. 
Once more, for the Company as well as myself, I return to you our heart- 
felt thanks, for the kind remembrance of us by the ladies. 
Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Joseph J. McGuigan, 

First Lieutenant Company B, 29th Regiment, P. V. 
Camp near Belle Plai^, Va., Janiiary 19, 1863. 

Mrs. Mary A. Brady. 

Dear Friend : There is one of my comrades in the West Philadelphia 
Hospital, Ward H, by the name of Harry Grifi&n. I wish you would be 
so kind as to call and see him, as you make your daily rounds. ^ You are 
engaged in a good work, in visiting the afflicted and by contributing to 
their wants; and surely you will reap your reward in due season, and Grod 
will bless you. Every true soldier you have helped will remember you with 



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respect and gratitude. I shall always remember you myself with deep 
feelings of gratitude, and I will never forget the kindness bestowed upon me 
by the ladies. " A friend in need is a friend indeed." My arm is still sore. 
Believe nie to be, Madam, yours truly, 

Joseph A. Winters, 

Company B, Seventh Regiment, P. V. 
Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, April 25, 1863. 

Mrs. Mary A. Brady. 

Dear Madam : It may seem that I had forgotten the favors which I 
received at your hands, while I was stopping in the West Philadelphia 
Hospitfil ; but not so, as I should be ungrateful if I did. I shall never 
forget the good bits brought in by you to the sick soldiers, besides articles 
of clothing, which were much needed then by some of the sick soldiers, 
who had lost everything. Our company is now detailed for guard duty of 
wagon trains of supplies and ammunition, and I had not much spare time 
this winter. We are under marching orders, and I think the army would 
have moved sooner, if we had had good weather. I hope when we do 
move, we will be victoi'ious, as this is a fine army. I suppose some of the 
boys in the hospital have been discharged, and are gone home. I do not 
wish for my discharge, and would not take it even if it was offered to me, 
until we have put down the rebels ; although I shall be glad when this 
civil war closes. With my best respects to the ladies, 1 remain Madam, 
Yours respectfully and gratefully, 

DwiGHT D. Graves, 

Private, Company B, 32d Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. 

September 5, 1862. The Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief having 
become extensively known, all the daily newspapers of Philadelphia in- 
serted, gratuitously, local paragraphs, applauding its objects and suggest- 
ing a generous support from the public. Likewise the Governor of Penn- 
sylvania addressed to the Association a complimentary letter, which ap- 
peared in the following local notice, extracted from the Public Ledger: 

"27ie Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Belief of PliUadelphia again 
desire to record their thankful acknowledgments for quite a number of 
large and valuable donations from various persons and firms, of money, dry 
goods, preserves, fruits, wines, &c., which have been judiciously and sys- 
tematically apportioned among the three thousand sick and wounded 
soldiers 'in U. S. A. General Hospital, West Philadelphia. 

"Mrs. Mary A. Brady, the President, has also recently received for dis- 
tribution, a number of boxes of linen, wines, jams, &c., from citizens of 
W^est Chester, Churchville, Line Lexington, Douglasville, Three Tuns, and 
Yardleyville, and five barrels of sundries from Easton. 

"We are requested to suggest, that contributions be clubbed together in 
all the different towns and villages of our own, or even of neighboring 
Commonwealths, as many of the patients in our hospitals are from other 
States. 

" Many a patriot soldier, languishing on a sick-bed here, far away from the 
soothing attentions of his wife, sisters, or mother, gratefully appreciates the 
kindnesses daily shown him voluntarily by our philanthropic ladies, who 



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devote themselves gratuitously to alleviate the sufferings of those brave 
men, who hazard their lives for us and our families. 

''Books, flannel shirts, woollen socks, slippers, linen handkerchiefs, and 
tobacco, are much needed at present. All communications and donations 
can be addressed to Mrs. Mary A. Brady, President, 406 South Forty-first 
Street, or sent to the office of the Association, No. 135 South Fifth Street, 
Philadelphia. 

" His Excellency, the Governor of Pennsylvania, always mindful of every- 
thing which interests and benefits our citizen volunteers, thus expresses 
himself towards the Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief : 

"Executive Chamber, Harrisburg, Pa., 
September 5, 1862. 

To Captain Edward Brady, 

Honorary Secretary. 

Dear Sir : Permit me to say, that I have watched with much pleasure 
the success which has attended the formation of the Ladies' Association 
for Soldiers' Relief, of Philadelphia. The objects of the Association are 
eminently praiseworthy, and the ladies connected with it, as well as yourself, 
are entitled to the gratitude of all our people. 

For what they, and you, have done and are doing, on behalf of our sick 
and wounded soldiers, I desire personally, to tender to you all, my best 
thanks. I am, dear sir, respectfully yours, 

A. Gr. CURTIN, 
Governor and Commander-in-Chief, P. M." 

October 21, 1862. The Public Ledger also contained in its local columns 
as follows : 

"The Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Belief. — The U. S. A. General 
Hospital, West Philadelphia, being so large, and containing at the present 
time about three thousand sick and wounded soldiers, there is an abundant 
opportunity for the liberal donations of a patriotic public. It is impossible, 
where the patients are so numerous, that too much can be done towards 
an amelioration of the sufferings of these brave men. 

" In the smaller hospitals, where there are only one or two hundred 
patients, and which are situated in the heart of the city, there are of course 
greater facilities of access, and consequently, the proportion of benevolent 
ladies who visit them is much larger than in West Philadelphia. 

" If the generous public could witness the spontaneous expressions of 
gratitude from these sick and wounded soldiers, towards the ladies who 
are active members of the Ladies' Association, for their voluntary and de- 
voted efforts to assuage their pangs and to ameliorate their condition, we 
feel sure that donations of comforts and luxuries adapted to their peculiar 
cases, would be stimulated. 

"In so vast an establishment as that of West Philadelphia, and which 
is under the careful management of Doctor Hayes, of Arctic Regions cele- 
brity, a recent circumspection in regard to passes of admission into the 
wards of the hospital became necessary, to guard against the indiscreet 
presents of deleterious articles to the sick and wounded men from well- 
meaning people. 



" We understand that the members of the Ladies' Association for Sol- 
diers' Relief have been constant and unremittent in their attendance at 
the hospital from its commencement, to soothe the sick and wounded 
soldiers, who are far away from their homes, and who are thus deprived of 
the tender sympathies of their wives, sisters, and mothers. 

" The U. S. A. Medical Staff of the hospital, readily extend every facility 
in their power to the President and Board of Managers of this Association, 
who are personally recognized by them. ' 

"Donations of money, flannel shirts, linen, jellies, or other suitable 
articles, will be thanki'ully received by Mrs. Mary A. Brady, President, 
406 South Forty-first Street, or by Mrs. M. A. Dobbins, Treasurer, 1801 
Mount Vernon Street, or by Edward Brady, Attorney-at-law, the Honorary 
Secretary, 135 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia," 

November 27, 1862, having been proclaimed by the Executive of the 
State of Pennsylvania, as a day of Annual Thanksgiving, the Ladies' Asso- 
ciation I'esolved to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkeys, chickens, 
pies, &c., to about eighteen hundred patients and nurses, who were at that 
time inmates of the U. S. A. General Hospital, West Philadelphia. 

In order to raise ample means for this object, Mrs. Mary A. Brady, and 
Miss Lidie C. Price, efiected arrangements for a grand benefit to be given 
to the Association, by S. S. Sanford's celebrated Opera Troupe, at Concert 
Hall, Philadelphia, and which performance took place on November 14th. 
The plans of these ladies were so successful, the hall was quite crowded^ 
and many people were unable to obtain admission. 

The Thanksgiving dinner was of course a work of some magnitude, and 
the arrangements were perfected chiefly by Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Dobbins, 
Mrs. M. N. Price, Mrs. William Howell, Mrs. Lizzie J. Dewees, Mrs. H. 
Walter, Mrs. E. Tolman, Miss L. C. Price, Miss H. C. Gallagher, Miss E. 
Stokely, Miss Mary 0. Meara, and Edward Brady, Honorary Secretary. 

The following extracts from the local items of the various newspapers of 
Philadelphia, refer to the success of the dinner: 

'■•The Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief gave a grand turkey- 
and-pie Thanksgiving dinner to every soldier and employee in the U. S. A. 
General Hospital, at Forty-fifth and Spruce Streets, West Philadelphia. 

" It is the largest institution of the kind in the city, and is under the 
charge of Doctor I. I. Hayes. The Association provided the repast, the 
whole being contributed by them. 

" The ladies engaged two bakers' ovens to roast the poultry, which was 
sent up warm to the hospital in covered wagons. 

" One hundred and seventy-five turkeys, with seasoning, one hundred 
chickens, twenty geese, thirty ducks, eight hundred and fifty pies, eighty- 
five rice puddings, and fifteen barrels of apples, besides the customary 
vegetables, were amply discussed by a majority of the patients. The whole 
affair was under the direction of Mrs. Mary A. Brady and Miss Lidie C. 
Price, as a committee, with the approval of the Hospital Medical Staff. 
Doctor Hayes ordered a release of all the inmates of the guard-house, at the 
request of Mrs. Brady. The number of sick Union soldiers at present in 
the hospital is sixteen hundred and seventy-five." 

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8 

December 18, 1862. The Ladies' Association resolved, in view of the 
suffering among the sick and wounded soldiers of the Army of the Potomac 
in the field, who are comparatively, by reason of the exigencies of civil war, 
and their distance from the ordinary channels of relief, not so well at- 
tended to by the personal efforts of citizens, as those sick and wounded 
who have already been transferred to our large cities, to direct the exer- 
tions of the members of the Association exclusively to the sick and wounded 
Union soldiers in Virginia. Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Dobbins, Miss Price, and 
the Honorary Secretary, were therefore requested to visit Camp Convales- 
cent, Virginia, and the hospitals at Alexandria, Virginia. The Associa- 
tion ordered, that in future, all collections of money and stores shall be 
appropriated solely for the benefit of the sick and wounded Union soldiers 
of the Army of the Potomac in the field. 

Circumstances unexpectedly prevented Mrs. Dobbins and Miss Price 
from proceeding to Virginia on that occasion, so Mrs. Brady, accompanied 
by the Honorary Secretary, made a first trip to the army in the field in 
Virginia, and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, of January 14, 1863, 
contained the following report of this visit: 

Report of a Visit of a Committee of Ladies to the Sick and Wounded 
Soldiers in Virginia. 

We left Philadelphia on Monday morning last for Washington, D. C., - 
preceded to the railroad depot by the West Philadelphia Fire Company's 
aoibulances, who kindly volunteered their services, with forty large boxes 
and six barrels of delicacies, donated by numerous friends, and by the 
public generally, whose liberality in thus enabling us to cheer and assist 
the brave patriots in the field, who are hazarding their health and limbs in 
the sacred cause of the Union, merits the warmest thanks and acknowledg- 
ments. 

It consumed two days in Washington to procure the necessary passes 
and permits to travel in Virginia, as well as to transport our sanitary stores. 
His Excellency, the President of the United States, recommended us to 
the Secretary of War, who referred us to the Military Governor-General 
of the District, from whom we went to a Quartermaster-in-Chief and Colo- 
nel's Department, in a different direction; thence to a Colonel's office for 
passes, &c., somewhere else; thence to a Captain's Quarters at a magnifi- 
cent distance ; then again to another Captain's Bureau, a great way off ; 
then a long tramp to a Chief-of-transportation ; next to a Captain of Am- 
bulances in the environs, and from the latter to a Master of teams and 
•wagons at the Baltimore and Ohio railroad depot, then to a Captain of 
Steamboat transportation on the Potomac River, and lastly, to a Director of 
Military railroads. 

At some of these offices there were dozens of men, all in a row, waiting 
their turn for permits, &c. Fortunately for us, the only gentleman mem- 
ber of our Association, all the rest of our members being ladies, had been 
persuaded to accompany our party, or we never could have gone through 
so many forms and so much exertion. But we must add, that from the 
President down to the teamster, we received the utmost civility and a most 
willing assistance in our undertaking. Indeed, every facility in the power 



of all these Government officials was cheerfully and promptly afforded us, 
and we cannot too highly commend their kind politeness towards us. 

We embarked on board a Government boat near the Long Bridge, three 
army wagons, with four mules each, having deposited our goods on the 
dock. A two-horse ambulance, with a careful driver, having also been 
placed by the Government at our disposal, we shipped it likewise on board, 
and we arrived in due time at the old town of Alexandria, Va., where the 
Captain of transportation at that station had been instructed to provide us 
with another ambulance, to carry such goods as we required from time to 
time, to the camps in the interior. Passing the guards, we drove out on 
our first trip, to Fairfax Seminary IIospit;il, a bc:iut.iful brick building, 
where we found the eight hundred inmates well accommodated, but we saw 
awfully long rows of grave head-boards outside. 

The country for twenty miles round to the borders of rebeldom, is hs 
desolate as possible; not a tree, or bush, or house, or fence, to be seen, 
but here and there a huge fortification bristling with heavy cannon. Being 
informed that there were many sick camps of tents in various localities 
farther distant, we distributed only one box of luxuries, and continued on 
until we came to several immense camps of recruits and convalescents, 
separated a few miles from each other, one containing twelve thousand six 
hundred, another eight thousand, and others with large numbers of invalid 
soldiers or convalescents. Of course, there were plenty of sick in all of 
them. We here distributed the contents of some boxes, and left one pack- 
age with some parties to deal out for us, with the result, that we afterwards 
determined, for cogent reasons, never again to. trust anybody else's hands 
but our own to distribute the goods. 

It is superfluous to add, that the donations were extremely acceptable to 
the sick soldiers, whose surprise at receiving these gifts from the Philadel- 
phia public, was as manifest as their gratitude was unbounded. 

Let us explain to some of your readers, why they are so disappointed 
that packages they may have sent to their friends, sometimes do not i-each 
their destination. The soldiers are many miles away from civilized life. 
Very rarely any but military persons visit them, few in fact but such as 
are on military business. There is no communication with them, except 
by a military postman and innumerable army supply wagons. No villages / 
are within reach, or even in existence, lience, when packages do reach ^ 
as far as the seat of war, they are perhaps addressed to regiments scattered 
many miles apart, with no regular means of access. Consequently, the 
address of a box is not so minutely investigated as its contents, by those 
into whose charge it happens to fall, and who are craving the comforts of 
life, of which they are now deprived by grim-visaged war. 

The plan of operations we adopted, was to start early in the morning, 
notwithstanding the inclement weather, in one ambulance, with the other 
laden with boxes, and having personally distributed the contents, to return 
to Alexandria in the evening. We occupied so much time on the second day's 
trip, that dark night and a snow-storm suddenly overtook us, and the roads 
being most abominably bad, winding among multitudinous stumps of trees, 
interspersed with several creeks, our drivers proclaimed it to be too danger- 
ous to travel back, especially as the rebel General Stuart's cavalry had 
made a raid ou the Sunday night week previously across the country be- 



10 

tween where we then were and Alexandria, and on which occasion the U. 
S. Quartermaster had packed up the immense Government stores, the 
rebels having got within six miles of that town on the day in question; and 
on the very night before last, they gobbled up thirty of our pickets a little 
further off, at Fairfax Court House. To be candid, we experienced con- 
siderable consternation, being compelled to camp out that night, and thus 
pi'actically test camp life and camp fare. The Christian Commission gal- 
lantly vacated in our favor their tent, which was fitted up with two tiny 
cots, not overstocked with either feather beds or linen sheets, as there were 
neither, but there was one gray blanket to each cot. It was of no avail to 
be squeamish of our accommodations, and we felt thankful for the Christian 
feeling of the Commission. The gentlemen bunked in a prayer-meeting 
tent, on boughs of trees spread on the earth. We used our empty boxes 
for rocking-chairs, and there were soaking wet sods of the bare ground for 
a carpet. United States army rations were furnished us. Our tent was in 
the midst of a camp of eleven thousand eight hundred and thirty-five 
soldiers ! 

It was a bitter cold night outside, and even inside our tent, as we peered 
out at the pickets pacing their lonely beats. 

After the last drums had tattooed, the only noise in the camp was a ter- 
I'ible amount of coughing from soldiers in the surrounding tents. Some, 
we fancied, were consumptive coughs in progressive stages ; but we could 
only pity them, as our stock of delicacies was exhausted. The great 
sufferings of so many soldiers may be imagined, and so much were the do- 
nations appreciated by them, we lamented that we had no more, as the de- 
mand for them so immeasurably exceeded our supply. 

On the third day's trip we stopped at an extensive camp on the brow of 
the hill. Having a couple of barrels of smoking and chewing tobacco, we 
knocked out the heads with a stone and commenced to hand it out by 
handfuls into a few soldiers' caps. In an instant the news spread. 
Hundreds clambered up the wheels, on the pole of the wagon, on the 
horses' backs, and crammed the inside, to the damage of the ladies' bon- 
nets and dresses. We do not exaggerate when we say, that several thou- 
sands immediately surrounded us, caps in hand, and all striving hard to get 
at the coveted article. It was impossible to keep any degree of order. 
The wagon was stormed. We were captured by a coup-de-main of to- 
♦bacco ! 

" Please give me some, kind ladies." 

'< This cap, Madam." 

*' Uncle Sam has not paid us for three months, and we are dead beat for 
tobacco, ladies. Won't you please give me a plug ?" 

A multitude of voices eagerly claimed our attention, although we all 
three of us handed it around as fast as we could. All the soldiers, how- 
ever, were good-humored, laughing and civil, but only too anxious for a 
prize in the lottery of a plug of tobacco. 

Finally the horses started, and it was truly surprising none of the soldiers 
got hurt, as many tumbled olf the wagon. Tremendous shouts of " three 
cheers for the ladies," made the welkin ring; whilst many hundreds fol- 
lowed us " on the double quick" down the hill, where we stopped and 
handed out the rest of our stock. " Three more cheers and a tiger for the 



11 

ladies of Philadelphia," greeted our departure as we galloped away to 
''Camp Convalescent," where, fearing a repetition of a demand hy tlie 
tliouaand for our supplies hy the dozen, we halted about a quarter of a mile 
from the tents. As the rain was pouring down in torrents, and the mud 
about ten inches deep, the ladies remained in the ambulance, while our 
gentleman escort walked into the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Sibley 
tents, and handed tickets to a few hundred of those whom, from among many 
thousands, he selected as most needy and sick, and the recipients then, 
without saying anything to their comrades, called on the ladies at the 
wagon for a flannel shirt apiece, expressing abundant thanks to the kind 
friends and benevolent public of Philadelphia, who. so generously provided 
such very acceptable articles to ameliorate their condition. 

In addition to our visits to some of the numerous sick camps in the field, 
we also visited three out of ten regular hospital buildings in Alexandria, 
where the doctors and nurses told us no other lady had ever before called, 
as it is supposed citizens there are of Secession proclivities. In every ward, 
such of the wounded as were able, at once rose up in their beds in astonish- 
ment, at seeing lady visitors ! We were sorry we had only a few boxes 
left for these hospitals. We had some cheese, crackers, dried beef, and 
green apples, which we despatched to some companies of Col. John K. 
Murphy's Twenty-ninth Regiment, P. V., at Fairfax Court House Station, 
on the line of the military railroad. 

In conclusion, our practical experience, derived from our travels in Vir- 
ginia, is : 

First. That there is an immense field for benevolence among the sick 
and wounded and, convalescent soldiers, who are counted by tens and twen- 
ties of thousands, in tents at the camps in the field in Virginia, many miles 
away from any village, and in localities where ladies are as scarce as ne- 
groes, the latter having all left. 

Second. That it is very troublesome to procure passes, permits, &c., and 
transportation, and that it is eminently proper fur a gentleman to escort 
ladies in Virginia at present. 

Third. That it is extremely desirable to distribute everything to the 
soldiers themselves, personally, with one's own hands. 

If the friends of the Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief, would de- 
sire us to repeat our journey to the sick and wounded in Virginia, we think 
the following are suitable donations, at this season of the year, namely.: 
tobacco, onions, butter, jellies and preserves, corn-starch, soap, towels, 
jcombs, &c., and particularly handkerchiefs, woollen stockings, and flannel 
shirts. 

We shall return home in a few days, so soon as we have made a flying- 
visit to the thir/iy thousand sick and wounded soldiers in the forty hos- 
pitals in the City of Washington, D. C. 

Respectfully, 

Mary A. Brady, 

President, Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief. 
January 14, 1863. 

February 26, 1863. In consequence of the success which attended Mrs. 
Brady's fii'st journey to the army in Virginia, the Association appointed 



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12 

Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Dobbins, and the Honorary Secretary, to visit the sick 
soldiers at the front of the Army of the Potomac, at Falmouth, on the River 
Rappahannock, Virginia ; and a report of the second visit appeared in the 
Evening Bulletin of March 10, 1863, as follows: 

Report of a Second Visit of a Committee of Ladies to the Sick and 
Wounded Soldiers at the Seat of War in Virginia. 

After an absence of twelve days, we are about to return home from the 
front of the Army of the Potomac, Mrs. M. A. Dobbins and myself having 
distributed personally with our own hands, to the sick and wounded sol- 
diers in the field, the sixty boxes of delicacies, flannel shirts, &c., kindly 
donated by our friends and the benevolent public generally, to whom we 
express the warmest acknowledgments. 

It consumed a day and a half in Washington to procure passes and trans- 
portation to the front for our packages of sanitary stores, when we pro- 
ceeded by the Government mail-boat, filled with officers and privates, to 
Aquia Creek, of course passing the venerated Mount Vernon on the way. 
At the time the rebels vacated the vicinity of Aquia Landing, they de- 
stroyed its few buildings, and the railroad track to Fredericksburg, together 
with the fortified works at Windmill Point, which commanded that part of 
the Potomac River. A number of frame sheds, to protect from the wea- 
ther vast quantities of military stores, constantly despatched to feed the 
army, have recently been erected, and the railroad track has been relaid 
to Falmouth Station, the only conveyance to which is by cars and tracks 
adapted to carry heavy freight. We got standing-room in a freight car, 
and in an hour or two, after an uncomfortable ride, reached the present 
termination of the railroad at Falmouth Station. Many hundreds of sol- 
diers rode outside the cars, or on top of huge piles of bales of hay, &c. 

Innunierable camps of regiments and brigades are scattered around for 
many miles in all directions. The cavalry was the most imposing-looking, 
as the infantry were chiefly in shelter tents. Falmouth Station is on high 
ground, and comprises a frame shed, telegraphic caboose, and a couple of 
frame offices. There are no houses. 

There being but one brick building in sight, we bent our way thither in 
an ambulance, which, by a coincidence, was driven by a wounded Phila- 
delphian, who happened to know us, and as evening was fast approaching, 
we looked rather blank on ascertaining that three I'ooms were occupied by 
as many large families of Southern refugees, as they call themselves^ wait- 
ing a pass from Jefi". Davis to go back to his dominions. The otther rooms 
were in possession of the lady Secretary of a Ladies* Aid Society of Phila- 
delphia, who permitted us to sit up all night in the kitchen in chairs, as 
there was no spare bed, and also to boil on her stove our tin kettle, which 
we had brought with us, together with some eatables, and for all these 
kindnesses, and other attentions, we were, of course, grateful to her. In- 
deed, we would have been shelterless otherwise, as it would have been im- 
possible for us to have reached or communicated on that evening with any 
of the headquarters, or colonels of regiments to whom we were recommended, 
as each brigade is separated from the other several miles, and the roads 
were so bad, we could not subsequently avail of pressing invitations to a 



tent at a camp, simply because we could not tramp through the deep 
mire, gullies, &c. 

The building in question is called the '' Lacy House," formerly the resi- 
dence of the rebel General Lacy, and is situated on the bluff or bank of 
the River Rappahannock, where our men crossed at the late battle, and 
the large town of Fredericksburg, not much the worse from our cannonade- 
ing, lies along the river edge on the opposite side. We were thus quar- 
tered within half-musket range of the rebels, whose pickets we could plainly 
see walking about among their rifle-pits, during the three days and nights 
we were under the roof of the dilapidated Lacy House. 

We heard the rebel band of music discoursing of an evening, and the 
church clocks striking quite distinctly, the river being about as wide as the 
Schuylkill at Chestnut Street bridge. Our soldiers are not allowed to con- 
verse with the rebs, who often halloo to them, however. If the rebs had 
fired their rifles across, we ladies would have been rather unpleasantly 
near, and their cannon might have disturbed our peaceful slumbers tn the 
old arm-chairs. On the night of the day of our departure hence, three 
brigades, consisting of two thousand cavalry of the rebels, made a dashing 
raid through our lines, with a view to their attempting the destruction of 
the high trestle bridge across the Potomac Creek, between Aquia Landing 
and Falmouth Station. Our men soon drove them back, with several 
killed and wounded, stopping them about eight miles from the bridge, the 
loss of which would have impeded the Union army. 

While we were at the Lacy House, some of our cavalrymen were brought 
there, who had been bruised in the skirmish with the rebel cavalry raid 
on Thursday night, and we ladies dressed, with Mrs. L. Miller's celebrated 
ointment, the contusions which our men had sufiered, their horses having 
been shot, and fallen or rolled on them. 

The military authorities having kindly placed at our disposal a four-mule 
wagon and an ambulance, we visited as many brigade and regimental sick 
tents, which are designated by little red flags, as were within reasonable 
reach, and thus we distributed a large portion of the delicacies with which 
we had been so liberally furnished in Philadelphia. It is true we could 
have disposed to advantage of a hundred times as many more things if we 
had had them, but what we had was duly appreciated by the recipients. 

So soon as our arrival in the tented field became known, we were called 
upon by several colonels of regiments at the front, with the tender of a tent 
in their camps for our accommodation, if we would consent to visit their 
regiments in particular, with our stores. Unfortunately our comparatively 
liniited supply being so rapidly disposed of prevented our acceptance of 
these friendly offers. 

The pickets suffer intensely from exposure to the inclement weather, 
and we sympathized most with them. A little tobacco was a great com- 
fort to them, to wile away weary vigil hours on picket guard. 

The only preference we heard expressed for any general in particular, 
was limited to any general who would lead our brave men to a decisive 
victory ; nor did we hear throughout all our travels, even the slightest 
murmur of dissatisfaction, except that furloughs were granted in too few 
instances to the privates. 

The idea of colored persons under white oflScers, to be organized to fight 



1 • tr 

14 

the rebels, seemed to be popular, it being remarked, "Why should not black 
blood be spilled as well as white, instead of the blacks loafing at home 
while white men are being shot in a war caused by Slavery?" 

Little comment was made on emancipation further than some thought 
"if there was freedom in the South, the North would be freed from the 
blacks, who naturally prefer to live in the South as more congenial to 
them." 

Everywhere all our soldiers were in excelhjnt spirits, and anxious to whip 
the rebels. 

Returning from the front to Aquia Landing, we were compelled to 
stay there a night, as the boat only runs once a day, and we received much 
kind politeness from Dr. Curling, in charge of the Sanitary Commission 
agency, v.'lio entertained us with a refreshing cup of tea, and both supper 
and breakfast, and whose influence secured us a vacant dry shed with a new 
cot and clean straw mattress, or we would otherwise have been shelterless, 
there being no accommodation whatever for ladies, and but scanty for men 
at Aquia Creek. 

From Washington we procured permits, &c., to revisit Camp Convales- 
cent and the hospitals at Alexandria, dividing the remainder of our stores 
among the sick in these two places. ^ 

If the region of country denuded of trees at the front, where the Army 
of the Potomac is encamped, is desolate and the roads bad, so the roads 
near Camp, Convalescent are worse. At some places we feared our teams 
could not extricate themselves or our army vehicles, especially on the last 
night of our return from the latter to the hotel at Alexandria. The wea- 
ther, too, was disagreeable, with hail and bleak wind. Neither of our 
party of ladies, however, fainted ! 

Camp Convalescent is far better provided at present than on the occasion of 
our first visit two months ago, and there are now several frame barracks, 
one story high, just completed, for the use of the sick. The rush there 
for such articles us tobacco, flannel shirts, &c., was so great, we were 
compelled to suspend our distributinn until protected by a color guard, 
which the officer of the day was good enough to detail for us. Apples, 
onions, lemons, &c , we handed out in the frame buildings, the men " form- 
ing a line," in each ward. There were cries for " more," after our stock 
became exhausted. 

What we had was a mere nothing among so many, many thousands, but 
we discriminated as well as we could, by selecting those who appeared 
more weakly, or most in need. We met Philadelphians ■passim. 

We return home, much fatigued after such hard travelling, and again 
tender our best thanks on behalf of our brave sick soldiers, to St. Matthias 
Aid Society, Independent Aid Society, Yardleyville Aid Society, Haddon- 
field Aid Society, and the numerous other Ladies' Aid Societies, and a 
generous public, who so kindly facilitated Mrs. Dobbins and myself with 
donations of luxuries, &c. 

Respectfully, 

Mary A. Brady, 

President Ladies' Association for Soldiers' R^ief. 
March 10, 1863. 



Ufp^ 



15 



j\ray 15, 1863. The Association again sent Mrs. Erady, Mrs. Dobbins, 
and the Honorary Secretary on a third visit to attend to the wounded 
Union soldiers after the second battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and 
they accordingly proceeded to the Sixth Corps Hospital Tents at Potomac 
Creek Bridge, Virginia, and a report of their proceedings is copied from 
the Evening Bulletin of June 1, 1863, as follows: 

Report of a Third Visit of Ladies to the Wounded Soldiers at the 
Front of the Army of the Potomac, Virginia. 

Leaving Philadelphia on May 15, 1863, accompanied by two members 
of our "Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief," of Philadelphia, we were 
occupied the next day in Washington in procuring " passes" for ourselves 
to Falmouth, on the River Rappahannock, and in obtaining transportation 
for forty-five packages of sanitary stores, which had been donated to us for 
the benefit of the brave soldiers who were wounded at the recent (second) 
battle at Fredericksburg Heights, Virginia \ since when positive orders 
have been issued by the War Department, to exclude any visitors from the 
army, especially ladies. In fact, all ladies are now, as a general rule, pre- 
cluded from visiting the front of the Army of the Potomac, and only a few 
and influential gentlemen who have wounded relatives can obtain " passes." 

It is therefore extremely difficult for any male citizen, and almost im- 
possible for any ladies to visit the army at present. We hope, however, 
these stringent regulations will soon be somewhat relaxed. A refusal to 
permit stores or boxes of any kind to go forward, would seem justifiable, 
on account of the gross abuses which heretofore prevailed, by the surrepti- 
tious conveyance of whiskey, and all sorts of deleterious articles, under 
pretence of donations for the sick. Hence the reluctance of both the military 
and medical authorities of the Government to make any discrimination. 
Luckily as I am personally recognized at the various departments, both at 
Washington and at the headquarters of the army, we were soon favored 
with the requisite " pa.sses," &c., and early the following (Sunday) morn- 
ing, we were steaming away on the Potomac River, by a Government boat, 
filled with a vast quantity of food and ammunition, passing Mount Vernon 
and Fort Washington, to Aquia Creek Landing, Virginia. 

Thence, standing in one of the huge freight cars, we roughed our way 
by the Falmouth Railroad to Potomac Creek Bridge Station, and walking 
about a mile southwardly, we reached the Sixth Army Corps Hospital 
Tents, to which we attached ourselves. Reporting to the surgeon in charge 
of the corps, we were welcomed by him, as well as by the division, brigade, 
and ward doctors respectively, of the three divisions, comprising the Sixth 
Corps Hospital Tents, containing about two thousand men, all wounded in 
the second battle of Fredericksburg. There being no other ladies offi- 
cially attached to the Army of the Potomac, we' look upon ourselves as "a 
first family of Virginia," although a few miles off one of the Washington 
family, his wife and two daughters, are still flourishing on their own an- 
cient domain, on the sacred soil of the Old Dominion, as well as a family 
of " white trash," a mile or two beyond. We brought along with us 
from Philadelphia our own rations and tents, three stretchers to sleep 
on, and a couple of cooking stoves with utensils. A squad of convalescent 



^VN 



16 



wounded soon fixed up our tents, and brought us some kindling wood and 
water. The Lieutenant of the fatigue company of the Sixth Corps chopped 
down young fir trees, and planted them as a fence, inclosing onr quarters, 
which we selected just on the efiitside of the lines of the hospital, between 
the three divisions or villages of tents. There is only one small frame 
dwelling within a circle of five miles. Two " orderlies" were detailed by 
the surgeon in charge of the corps to attend to our stove fires, &c., and to 
be generally useful. We have one sleeping-room tent, two store-room 
tents, containing our supply of materials to make delicacies, &c., for the 
wounded soldiers, the empty boxes being piled up in tiers around three 
sides of these tents in lieu of shelves. 

Two fly tents, having the sides tucked up, form our airy kitchens, where 
we forthwith commenced and still continue daily to cook custards, blanc- 
mange, jellies, milk punch, and whatever "requisitions" are made upon 
us by the division surgeons, whose confidence we have already gained by 
our adopting an inflexible rule, like the laws of the Modes and Persians, 
" which altereth not," never to give away anything whatever outside of the 
hospital tents, and solely with the approbation of the brigade or ward doc- 
tors, who are of course the proper judges of what particular articles are de- 
sirable or otherwise for their patients. 

The men are wounded in every conceivable manner, and seem to be 
happy to be waited upon by ladies, as it reminds them of " home," they 
say. Only the slightly wounded were forwarded to Washington and the 
Northern City Hospitals. The ward nurses call at our tents three times a 
day from each of the three divisions of the Sixth Corps, to carry the luxu- 
ries we have prepared, and we hand them around ourselves under the 
supervision of the doctors, who express themselves much pleased at our 
assistance, and we speak cheerful and soothing words to the wounded 
patriots, who are evidently gratified at our presence. Indeed, we flatter 
ourselves we are doing a great deal of good. 

Our original supply of forty-five packages being exhausted, we have 
since been liberally provided with thirty-nine boxes more of suitable arti- 
cles from the friends of the Ladies' Association in Philadelphia, and which 
will, last about another week. My companions, Mrs. Dobbins and Miss 
E. C. Matlack, unite with me in urgently suggesting to the churches and 
the benevolent public, to furnish us with further contributions of money 
or stores, to enable us to remain here, and thus to continue our good work. 
It would prove a disappointment to the doctors, and most particularly to 
so many suff"ering wounded soldiers, if our voluntary and gratuitous 
efforts should cease, for want of timely support from the City of Brotherly 
Love. 

Mrs. S. R. Chase will relieve me here, while I visit my family at home 
for a few days, and we shall be grateful on behalf of the mutilated defenders 
of the Union of the Sixth Corps, for a continued assistance from week to 
week regularly of sanitary supplies. 

Fifty dozen cans of condensed milk, one hundred dozen fresh eggs, 
thirty boxes of lemons, ten boxes of oranges, one hlindred and fifty pounds 
of white pulverized sugar, two hundred jars of jellies and jams, and twelve 
dozen best sherry wines, are needed immediately. Everything is wanted. 
Some linen rags, towels, and Cologne scent were asked for. Our stock 



^1>^fjf 



IT 



of red and gray flannel shirts, socks, slippers, and linen handkerchiefs, 
dried fruit, preserves, and tobacco were exhausted during the first three 
days after our arrival here. Many hundreds of badly wounded sufferers 
would be thankful to numerous Ladies' Aid Societies at home, who would 
be kind enough to send us some small " limb pillows" of different sizes. 

Condensed milk, fresh eggs, white sugar, jellies and jams, wines, lemons, 
and plugs of tobacco, are articles we use most, and are constantly needed, 
and any donation of whatsoever kind, will be thankfully acknowledged, if 
sent to the office of Edward Brady, Attorney-at-law, Honorary Secretary, 
No. 135 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia. 

Governor Curtin gives us freight for goods to Washington, and the Go- 
vernment will order transportation to Virginia, on application by us. 

The only chance of purchasing any goods here is from a sutler from one 
of the neighboring regiments on the hills, from whom can be bought semi- 
occasionally tub-butter at one dollar a pound, small lemons eighty-five cents 
a dozen, eggs sevent)'-five cents a dozen, including a propoitiuu of bad. Whis- 
key, '■'■ covh-nhand of war,'" is thr(!e dollars a pint, short measure, warranted 
to kill at forty yards, and one month's imprisonment in the guard-house. 

The whole country from Aquia Creek Landing to General Hooker's 
Headquarters, situated five miles beyond Falmouth, consists of innumera- 
ble small steep hills, thrown together higgledy piggledy, with gullies in 
all directions. Regular roads there are none. Almost all the forests have 
been cut down, and apologies for roads twine round the stumps of trees. 
An exception is the Potomac Creek Valley, where we are located, a charm- 
ing spot, and we are not at all surprised that the several thousand 
wounded soldiers now in the vicinity will remain here all summer. The 
air is invigorating, and the hospital tents clean and comfortable. More- 
ovei-, there are no friends whose mistaken kindness will smuggle whiskey 
or bilious-looking cakes, &c. The doctors are always attentive to their pa- 
tients, whose removal to a distance might be fatal. The men are all hope- 
ful, and the nurses are convalescent wounded, who can feel for their 
sick comrades. This latter point is peculiar, and highly beneficial to the 
wounded. I repeat, for the satisfaction of their friends at home, that all 
the wounded in the field are hopeful, and not a murmur is heard. They 
are aware the Government is doing all in its power to alleviate their pains 
and ameliorate their condition. They are recovering as fast as can rea- 
sonably be expected. 

From this valley to the River Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, 
there are three miles of corduroy road, winding over a score of hills and 
dales. It is made by placing two rows of trees lengthways, and filling up 
crossways with thousands of trees laid close together, but which being of 
^different sizes and .shapes, and some getting broken or displaced, verily 
renders "Jordan a hard road to travel." Assistant Adjutant-General 
Birney, of the Third Division, Sixth Corps, lent us an ambulance one day to 
take a peep at the rebs on the other side of Jordan. Being distant only 
a hundred yards, we could easily distinguish such of the rebs who wore 
United States uniforms, from the usual butternut color. 1 would respect- 
fully recommend the Northern dyspeptic sympathizers with the South to 
try a jaunt over the corduroy road in question, with the addition of dried 
peas in their shoes, down a declivity on a curve, and over a gully, together 



18 

■with a couple of miles among the stumps of trees to the river. These 
stay-at-homes would, perhaps, not grumble so much afterwards, nor wonder 
why the army is not all the time on the move. Imagine the anguish of 
our brave wounded, all of whom travelled over this very road, five miles 
from the late battle-field at Fredericksburg Heights. Hark ! It is a 
dismal sound of a muffled drum and fife, as solemnly and sadly they bear 
a dead patriot to the graves of the Sixth Corps Hospital, half a mile on 
our right. A Christian Commission delegate reads and prays. Hark 
again ! It is the dead march in Saul, and a brave soldier of the Third 
Corps Hospital on our left has gone where the weary are at rest, followed 
by some wounded companions in the battle. A Christian Commis- 
sion delegate exhorts and prays. Hark once more ! Three volleys from 
a corporal's guard tell the mournful tale of another victim of this wicked 
rebellion, from the Second Corps Hospital on the hillside beyond. A 
Christian Commission delegate preaches and prays. 

The compliments of the Surgeon-in chief of the First Division to Mrs, 
Brady, and he will be glad of one hundred and thirty custards and seventy 
jellies for Wards B and D. The Surgeon-in-chief of Second Division re- 
quests some lemonade and tobacco for Wards A and C. The Third Divi- 
sion Surgeon-in-chief wishes five buckets of milk punch, and some stewed 
fruit for Wards E and F. The Doctor of First Brigade, Second Division, 
is desirous of some linen rags, sponge, and patent sheet lint. The Doctor 
of Third Brigade, First Division, wishes some port or sherry wines, and 
best brandy, for several wounded men who are very low. The Second 
Brigade, Third Division Doctor, asks for baked rice puddings and custards. 
And so forth and so on, we being all j;lay busy as bees, from "reveille" at 
five o'clock in the morning, until " tattoo" at nine o'clock in the evening. 
One of the ladies from any of the Ladies' Aid Societies, who have facili- 
tated us upon this and former occasions with donations of money or 
stores, and who desires to assist us here at Potomac Creek Bridge, Vir- 
ginia, can please call at the office of the Ladies' Association, Philadelphia. 

" Whip-poor-will !" We are awakened by the soft cry of these all-the- 
night-wide-awake birds. " Fire ! fire I" We are awakened by the blaze of 
signal lights in the front, reflected through our canvas tent. The moon 
shines as bright as day, and a balloon is up on a reconnoissance of rebel- 
dom. "Toot ! toot!" We awake in the middle of the night by bugles 
calling ten thousand cavalry, encamped in a woods at our rear, to make a 
successful raid in force into Secessia, or by the rumbling of some batteries 
of flying artillery, or by the galloping of aides-de-camp, who ride swiftly to 
order the Third Corps Infantry to march, or the pontoons to be moved. 

Cases of individual bravery are quite common, and well authenticated,, 
by thousands of eye-witnesses. For instance, as it was related to us, D. 
C. Brenuan, formerly a captain of a company in General Owens's Twenty- 
fourth Regiment, Penn.sylvania Volunteers, three months' men, now a pri- 
vate in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, Second Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps, commanded by 
General Hancock, was said to be the only man unwounded out of a platoon 
who rushed up to the third range of heights at Fredericksburg, in face of 
a rebel battery, vomiting grape and canister shot, and he himself dragged 



a cannon mounted on wheels down the hill, every man and horse of the 
rebel battery having been either killed or wounded. 

The General and men cheered this heroic act. Surely such men as 
Brennan, — and there are plenty of them in every corps, — should be en- 
couraged by the Government by promotion to a shoulder-strap, there 
being, unfortunately, by reason of the vicissitudes and casualties of the war, 
an abundance of vacancies. 

Most of the soldiers engaged in the late battle lost their entire personal 
effects, and many of the wounded are consequently without money. It is 
a very remarkable and undeniable fact, that there was and is always, we 
are informed, less wounded and less killed amongst those corps who boldly 
advanced to the enemy, than among the Eleventh Corps, who were com- 
pelled by the exigencies of the battle to retrograde. 

Sometimes of an evening our Sixth Corps Hospital is enlivened by the 
melody of the excellent band of the Third Kegiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry. 
Every evening we hear beautiful music resounding from the hilltops at 
headquarters "of the Sixth Corps, under command of Major-General Sedg- 
wick, who is a pleasant gentleman, and who looks every inch a soldier, 
and whose total freedom from affectation renders him a favorite. Let me 
allude likewise, from an experience derived from personal observation, to 
the United States Christian Commission, who are located in each of all 
the corps of our armies throughout the United States, and who attend to 
both the body and the soul. Their never-ceasing efforts are most efficacious, 
and, without ostentation, they go about doing good everywhere. Although 
not personally acquainted with any of these gentlemen, we are informed 
they labor, like ourselves, without salary, and voluntarily, and we fervently 
trust the numerous friends of the Christian Commission will continue to 
render them a hearty support. 

At the lower end of the Potomac Valley there is a level long stretch 
across between the hills, and on the east side a wide course for a mile, and 
we surmise that if President Lincoln thinks that our Uncle Samuel does 
not possess any race-horses, or that some contractors for horses do not 
rapidly gi-ow tat, we respectfully differ in opinion with his Excellency, 
and we would refer him to the fine race ground just mentioned, where, at 
all hours during the broiling heat, colored individuals are exercising Uncle 
Sam's quadrupeds with the utmost vigor, rendering it slightly difficult to 
determine which is the brute, the colored individual or the horse. We 
would also delicately hint at the offensive odor from dead animals, which 
-have died from exhaustion, throughout the whole region of country occu- 
pied by the army of the Potomac. 

VVe propose to stay here during as many weeks hence as our resources will 
admit. In the meantime, inquiries as to the condition of wounded rela- 
tives can be addressed to me at No. 135 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, 
stating the division and corps number. 

Respectfully, 

Mary A. Brady, 

President of the Ladies' Association for 
June 1, 1863. Soldiers' Belief, of Philadelphia. 



.20 

July 6, 1863. The following letter from His Excellency Governor 
Curtin, was published in the local columns of the Inquirer, Press, and 
North American. 

Executive Chamber, Harrisbueg, Pa., 
July 6, 1863. 

Mrs. Mary A. Brady, 

President Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief, Philadelphia. 
Madam : I take much pleasure in signifying my appreciation of the 
voluntary and gratuitous efforts of yourself, and the ladies associated with 
you, to alleviate the sufferings of the sick and wounded soldiers of the 
Army of the Potomac, and my confidence that the success which has 
hitherto attended your benevolent enterprise, will encourage you to perse- 
vere in your mission of mercy. 

I commend your Association to the kind offices of the military and 
medical authorities of the United States xVriiiy, and trust they may find it 
consistent with the interests of the service, to facilitate the accomplish- 
ment of the objects of your Association. , 
I have the honor to remain. Madam, 

Very respectfully yours, 

A. G. Curtin, 

Governor of Pennsylvania. 

July 10, 1863. A fourth trip to assist the wounded Union soldiers of 
the Third Corps Hospital Tents was made by Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Dobbins, 
Mrs. S. R. Chase, and the Honorary Secretary, to Gettysburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, shortly after the sanguinary conflict there, with the rebels. A re- 
port of this visit to the battle-field is copied from the Evening Bulletin of 
July 23, 1863, as follows : 

Report of a Fourth Visit of a Committee of Ladies to the "Wounded 
Soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, in the Field near Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania. 

On the morning of the 10th of July, inst., we left Philadelphia for 
Baltimore, Md., which city being under martial law, permits to pass be- 
,yond its corporate confines are required, so we called at the office of the 
Provost Marshal there, who immediately, on becoming aware of the nature 
of our mission to the late battle-field near Gettysburg, Pa., ordered the re- 
quisite documents without exacting from us the customary oath of alle- 
giance, which the Colonel evidently deemed a surplusage in our case. 

We were provided by the State of Pennsylvania with transportation by 
railroad, and Mr. J. M. Drill, the General Agent of the Northern Central 
Railroad Company, as well as Mr. W. J. Benson, of the Baltimore, Wil- 
mington, and Philadelphia Railroad Company, afforded us prompt assist- 
ance, enabling us to get our fifty-three boxes of sanitary stores transferred 
from one depot to another with despatch, to be in time for the evening 
cars. The iron horse screamed and ran, now through thick shaded woods, 
anon through fields of ripened grain, waiting the harvester's sickle, the re- 
cent invasion by the rebels having caused the reapers to leave for parts 
unknown ; now traversing green meadows, innocent of cows, for the reason 



21 

just nientionrd ; thftn skimniing rivulets and brooks, -whose bridges, lately 
burnt by the ruthless foe, had, a day or two previously, been re-erected ; 
now skirting around the hills, then winding along the banks of the Little 
Gunpowder River, roaring, dashing, tearing, striving, dragging, rushing, 
darting, driving, crashing, and panting with thirst, occasionally quenched 
by copious drinks from tankards on the wayside, the exhausted steam 
animal would not drag us any farther, but stops to recuperate by a long 
breath during the night at Parktown, a city comprising one solitary house 
and store, and a railroad station platform, although some more improve- 
ments had just been improvised in the shape of a stockade, in which a 
company of soldiers were bivouacked. 

The next morning we jogged on to Hanover Junction, where we met a 
couple of trains of cars containing nine hundred of our brave wounded pa- 
triots on their way to Northern hospitals from Gettysburg. Here some 
Union ladies from Baltimore had stationed themselves to refresh and sus- 
tain with Port wine negus, lemonade, cakes, &c., the weary wounded, who 
daily p;)ss along the railroad in large numbers. All the slightly wounded 
in the late battles are being removed to the North as flist as possible. 

Proceeding on a few miles, the cars stopped and remained all day await- 
ing orders, and as the dirty freight cars in which we sojourned, were full 
of ladies and gentlemen going to the battle-field, to seek dead or dying re- 
ilatives, and there being no water or house near us, we were all pretty well 
used up by the broiling sun. A mischievous rumor was here started in 
the interval, to the effect that the rebel General Beauregard, had just ap- 
peared with forty thousand men close to Gettysburg, and therefore, the 
train would have to take the back track, or wait until more definite news 
arri-ved, our engineer having been taken as a prisoner of war on two previ- 
ous occasions, and did not relish either rebel fai-e or work. A map of the 
surrounding country was exhibited by a gentleman, a sympathizer with the 
South, from Maryland, explaining how exceeding probable such a move- 
ment was, by a detachment from General it. E. Lee's army of Virginia. 
A few passengers now suddenly found themselves unable to withstand the 
fatigue of so much delay, and not being in the least influenced by the 
above Secesh report, walked back to the last station. Finally, we went on 
as far as Hanover, about dusk, and remaining at that quaint old town that 
night, we got at last to Gettysburg on Sunday. 

We alighted from the cars at the corner of the Main or High Street, 
commonly called Market Street, I suppose, in country towns, at the edge of 
an immense pile of muskets, bayonets, ramrods, belts, cartridge boxes, &c., 
all thrown promiscuously together; another similarly large pile lay at the 
other end where the cars stopped. Union and rebel implements for de- 
struction of human life were here mingled together, and on some the blood 
of their former owners still clotted, notwithstanding the rain. 

A stranger had pulled at the butt of a French carbine in the tangled 
mass of small arms, and the trigger of another being thus moved, its con- 
tents, consisting of a rebel IMiiiie b.ill and three buckshot, were discharged 
into his side, killing him almost instantly, man) ui' the muskets gathered 
up from the field of battle being found loaded. 

At the corner of the streets, also, a number of brass Napoleons, or big 
guns, lay passive on the spot where they had been last fired. A howitzer 



22 

still loaded with powder and shell had received from a rebel Whitworth 
piece a round shot, which had struck so exactly the mouth of the former as 
to penetrate it a couple of inches, and is stuck so fast, the calibre of the 
projectile being a tight fit or squeeze, the dangerous experiment will have 
to be resorted to, of firing off the piece to eject its bold invader. 

The truly desolate appearance of the town of G-ettysburg is striking. 
Every large house, school, chapel, or other building, is filled to repletion 
with both Union and rebel wounded soldiers, and several ladies from various 
State Soldiers' Relief Societies were there in attendance on them. 

We soon became well aware that the greatest preponderance of the 
suffering men were at the different corps hospital tents in the vicinity of 
the battle-ground, commencing about three u)iles to seven miles out from 
the town, and where there was a great need of help. 

* The facilities placed at our disposal by the State of Pennsylvania, of 
three Government teams of six mules each, enabled us to pack our fifty- 
three boxes and ourselves on top in the wagons, it being quite impossible 
to obtain any easier or pleasanter mode of riding, the rebels having carried 
off into Secessia or destroyed every private conveyance of whatsoever kind. 
Passing the Cemetery, the scene of a portion of the conflict and carnage, 
located about a mile from Gettysburg, where the living never supposed, when 
they buried their beloved husbands or children, that the dead would ever 
be ploughed up by ponderous shot, or exploding shell, fired by the evil 
passions of men engaged in grira-visaged war, we turned off on the right 
of White House Chapel, about five miles distant from the town, down a 
by-road, hub-deep with mud, with the air redolent with a loud perfume 
from deceased horses, and reported ourselves to the surgeon in charge of 
the three divisions of the Third Corps Hospital, on the border of a wood. 
In all directions the fields are dotted with the graves of soldiers, who are 
buried where they happened to M\. Our tent and stove were soon fixed, 
and our stores of delicacies opened by a score of volunteer convalescent 
wounded. Soon we were warmly welcomed by the surgeon in charge and 
by all the division and ward doctors, and "requisitions" for all sorts of 
articles quickly pour in upon us. 

During the evening we made a flying visit, or a reconnol usance hi force, 
as "we say in the army," to the numerous rows of tents, and satisfied our- 
selves at a glance that there was an abundant opportunity for our services, 
and we were continually greeted with expressions from the brave wounded, 
such as, " To see the face of a Philadelphia lady does us good, madam ;" 
" We are glad you are come." 

All the facilities in the power of the respective surgeons are readily ex- 
tended to us, but we always endeavor to occupy their attention as little as 
possible. On no previous occasion have we met with doctors in the army 
more efficient or attentive to the wants and trials of the wounded than here. 
An army, after a long march, suddenly engaging in a sanguinary battle, 
cannot possibly possess many conveniences for the wounded, so there neces- 
sarily was, at first, a great want of various articles adapted to the comfort 
of so many wounded; but a soldier knows this must be so, and in a measure 
he becomes inured to it. We were not in the least surprised, therefore, that 
every wounded man throughout the entire hospital tents was cheerful and 
hopeful, and there is no sign of complaining. 



23 

I happened to remark how grateful we stay-at-homes at the North ought 
to feel towards the brave hearts who fought so gallantly for us, and who 
drove back the rebel hordes from approaching Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 
Washington, which places were certainly in jeopardy, when, simultaneously, 
a chorus of voices would exclaim : "Why, Mrs. Brady, we would all have 
died to the very last man on the battle-field here, before we would have let 
the Confederates win or move on to Philadelphia." 

I have invariably considered it a wise maxim " not to make too light of 
our enemies," and it is an undeniable fact fhat the rebels fight like infuri- 
ated demons, and with skill and unity. Hence the courage of our own 
Union patriots is the more apparent, and cannot be too much commended 
or appreciated. It is impossible, I think, to limit our gratitude towards 
those who have sacrificed their health and limbs for us, and for our country. 
The efibrts therefore, of myself, ray companions, Mrs. M. A. Dobbins, and 
Mrs. R. G. Chase, and the other ladies who have gathered around me, are 
not only purely gratuitous and wholly voluntary on our part, but we devote 
ourselves to ameliorate the condition of the Army of the Potomac as a labor 
of love, and we reap our reward in the belief that we are doing some good, 
and particularly in the assurances that "the boys" appreciate our exertions. 

It is, perhaps, superfluous to remark, that no lady connected with our 
Ladies' Association has ever received a dollar of pay or allowance, either 
from the State of Pennsylvania or from the Government of the United 
States, or from any other source; and our Honorary Secretary gets no 
salary, nor does he even charge us office rent. My heart is devoted to sup- 
port the land of the brave and the home of the free, — our glorious Union 
and country. Fervently do I trust, that ere long, when this cruel war is 
over, and the occupation of Mexico by France will thereafter cease, our 
brave old flag will float over this entire Continent, and peace and prosperity 
again shall bless us, and that we may come out of the present ordeal a 
united and a better people. 

In describing travels, or occurrences, some historians are apt to favor the 
authorities in power, by concealing untoward circumstances, or by extolling 
such as may resound to their praise. Others have a knack to magnify little 
faults into magnificent proportions, and to glide over great excellencies with 
small notice. Some seem to enjoy a chance of finding faults, although 
they really have to plod hard to find them. For my part, judging from 
actual experience and frequent observation, 1 am quite satisfied the Govern- 
ment does everything it can do, for the benefit of the soldier. No doubt, 
occasionally, one meets with a vain or an ignorant officer, and peradventure 
there exists a medical director, who desires that no ladies shall ever visit 
the army hospitals in the field. There is no case without an exception, 
and if such is so, I will venture to make an exception to my own rule 
" never to find fault." It is this : we understand there were twelve 
thousand Union men, wounded in every conceivable manner and form, 
lying in small shelter tents on the bare, wet ground, almost within sight of a 
dozen times as many thousands of sheaves of wheat straw, garnered or un- 
garnered. Bearing in mind the continued heavy rains since the late battle, 
I am of opinion the Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac in the 
field ought to have seized, on the plea of a military necessity, an abundant 



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24 • 



supply of the straw, whether the farmers liked it or not, rather than let 
our gallant wounded boys remain on the bare, soaking, wet ground. 

Sometimes the surface of the cool, moist ground is said to be a favorable 
position for amputated cases, or bad wounds. 

Our tent is adjacent to a long row of tents, occupied exclusively by 
amputated cases, and soon after we had retired to sleep on the first night 
of our arrival in camp, Mrs. Debbins and Mrs. Chase inquired " what that 
noise was ?" Perhaps, I'eplied I, it was only the rippling waters of yonder 
stream, caused by the incessant rains. It was there that several rebels 
wounded, unable to help themselves, were drowned by the flood which 
occurred, as usual, immediately after the battle. . 

However, we arose from our couch, and visited the amputated men with 
a view to soothe them, endeavoring to alleviate their sufferings so far as 
was in our ability, propping up their mutilated bodies with feather " limb 
pillows,"" kindly donated to us by the members of St. Matthias P. E. Church, 
and by the young ladies of Zion Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, and by 
cooking for them on our stove some delicacies. Strange to say, all the 
wounded men enjoyed some " fine-cut" tobacco, almost as much as any 
article we had. As a matter of course, the Ward doctors were always 
about, dressing wound after wound, without ceasing; nor were the head~ 
doctors absent. " Nurse ! be sure and send for me at any hour of the 
night whenever wanted," was the constant order from all the doctors. 

Frequently I am the confidante of dying warriors : " Shed no tears for me. 
Tell my mother, I shall feel no pain in the grave. I have fought the good 
fight. Tell my brothers and sisters to meet me in heaven." 

It was still raining hard in the "sma' wee hours" of the night, or rather 
morning, when on passing a street of other tents we heard some groans, 
and groping our way in the darkness, we shortly found ourselves very 
gently rubbing away the pain from the feet of some, and bathing the feet 
of others, speaking cheerful words to them all, and which latter we believe 
" to do good like a medicine." But we had to stand out in the wet, wear- 
ing hoods and gum boots, as the shelter tents are only a few feet high in 
the middle or apex, sloping down to the damp ground at the sides, and 
scarcely the length of a man. In the daytime we cook custards, &c., 
green tea by the bucket full, chocolate, milk-toast, arrow-root, rice pud- 
dings, beef-teas, fill numerous requisitions for all sorts of things, and per- 
sonally distribute our miscellaneous stores, from time to time, to the men 
themselves, with our own hands, conversing cheerfully with otlr patients. 
Thus we spend our nights as well as days. 

Individual acts of benevolence are common as flies in summer. For in- 
stance, Mr. F. Gutekunst, the eminent photographer, and his assistant, 
Mr. I. Marshall, unasked, and, as they thought, unknown, liberally relieved 
the distress of a broken-hearted widow seeking the remains of her deceased 
husband; but she had exhausted her limited means, and would otherwise 
have been debarred the sad consolation of removing the body of her 
husband to be buried in consecrated ground, amidst his kith and kin, in 
the City of Brotherly Love. 

His Excellency, Governor A. G. Curtin, kindly favored us with a call at 
our tent on the battle-field, and was profuse with acknowledgments to us 
for our voluntary and gratuitous labors on behalf of the noble wounded. 



A/J 



25 



In what other State has any Governor exhibited so much interest, or 
personally attended to the wants of the brave soldiers in their distress, so 
much as our own worthy Governor? His exertions have been uniform 
and untiring. No wonder, therefore, that the people of the State of Penn- 
sylvania are determined to re-elect him their Commander-in-chief, nor 
could they do better, we opine. He is a patriot, indeed. 

Hon. Miss D. L. Dix, whose philanthropy is so widely known, also came 
and expressed her sympathy and good wishes towards us. 

Hon. George H. Stuart also called at our tent, and directed Mr. F. G. 
Shearer, the efficient superintendent of U. S. Christian Commission, to 
furnish us daily with a supply of any articles of which our stock was ex- 
hausted. The record of Mr. Stuart's good deeds being everywhere, any 
praise from us of this pious gentleman would be a supererogation. 

The Rev. R. G. Chase also spent a few days at our tents, daily visiting 
the poor in spirit, and the needy in grace, pouring in the wine of hope in 
Jesus, and the oil of salvation in Christ, to many and many a repentant 
soul, preaching the Holy Gospel, and singing praises to Him who giveth 
and yet taketh away; encouraging the timid, and confirming the strong 
in faith in our Lord; reciting the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, 
with the assurances of everlasting joy to those who believe in the Savior, 
Who bled for us, that we might be saved, and Who is the resurrection and 
the life forever and ever. Like our Heavenly Master did this amiable 
and energetic young man unostentatiously not only minister to the spiritual 
welfare, but cared likewise for the bodily comfort of the sick and wounded. 
We respectfully suggest to St. Matthias's Church to spare him again on a 
future occasion, for another visit of a few days to the hospital tents in the 
field, to add his mite to the usefulness of the chaplains, who are indefati- 
gable in praying with and exhorting so large a flock, and are truly most 
Christian gentlemen, admirably suited to their sacreti calling. Religious 
services were held in our tent by Mr. Chase every evening, assisted in the 
hymns by the chaplains, and cordially joined in by the convalescents. 

Mrs. H. Carlisle and Mrs. J. Monroe also arrived here to assist us, and 
were relieved by Mrs. C. Sullender and Miss E. C. Matlack. 

Our friends in Philadelphia have forwarded to us, since our arrival on 
the battle-field, several consignments of sanitary stores, comprising forty- 
two packages, including two barrels of stimulants; so the three "orderlies" 
detailed by the surgeon in charge of the corps to help us, are kept busy at 
all hours by us. 

We have the pleasure to acknowledge the kind politeness of the wounded 
men of the Eighth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, in presenting to Mrs. 
Dobbins and to me, a rebel Lieutenant's sword, and a rebel General's star, 
captured by this gallant regiment at the recent battle of Gettysburg, Pa. 

It would fill a volume to enumerate the names of our friends, and of the 
benevolent public, through whose bountiful aid and generous assistance 
we have been heretofore so liberally sustained in our self-imposed task to 
help the sick and wounded in the field. 

Suffice it to say, that to the different churches, the Ladies' Aid So- 
cieties, and all of our friends generally, we feel most grateful, and we re- 
spectfully solicit further donations and cotitributions of money or suitable 
articles, to be sent to the President or Treasurer at the office of Edward 



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26 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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Brady, Attorney-at-law, Honorary Secretary, No. 135 South Fifth Street, 
or to Mrs. Chase, at St. Matthias Protestant Episcopal Church, Southwest 
corner of Nineteenth and North Streets, 

In conclusion, we must not fail to remember to thank the Philadel- 
phia newspapers, the Press, Ledger, Inquirer, Bulletin, and North Ameri- 
can, for the notices of our Ladies' Association, which they have so often 
inserted for us in their local items respectively, and most particularly the 
Evening Bulletin, whose courtesy is as extended as its columns are inte- 
resting to its readers. 

Respectfully, 

Mary A. Brady, 

President of the Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief. 
July 23, 1863. 



As these four special reports narrate respectively the usefulness of the 
voluntary and gratuitous labors of the prominent members of the Ladies' 
Association, it is, perhaps, superfluous to add here anything farther, than 
that the ladies have enlisted " for thi-ee years, or the war," and they there- 
fore respectfully solicit a continued support from a patriotic public, on be- 
half of our noble army of martyrs, until this cruel war is over, and the 
Union be re-established in its pristine glory. 

To avoid mistakes, however, it is especially requested that no money or 
goods be given to any ladies or committees purporting to be connected with 
the "Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief," unless they are always pe?'- 
sonally accompanied by either Mrs. Brady or Mrs. Dobbins, who are the 
only persons authorized to receive contributions, except that stores can 
also be sent to the office of the Association, No. 135 South Fifth Street, 
Philadelphia, or any donations can be addressed to them. 

It might seem invidious to mention the names of individuals or firms, 
or of Ladies' Aid Societies throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, or 
indeed of numerous other friends generally, who have liberally supported 
from time to time the Ladies' Association. Let it suffice, therefore, that 
the warmest thanks are cordially tendered by us to them all. 

Mary A. Brady, 

President Ladies' Association for Soldiers' Relief, 
135 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia. 
July 28, 1863. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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